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Quandry - upgrade or rebuild
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Member
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20. April 2006 @ 12:26 |
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Hi guys,
I've been looking around the web for computer components for a new PC, and am now wondering if I really should build another PC or just upgrade the current one I have.
I'd really like to see your (useful) comments
My Specs for current system as follows;
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-8IK1100 Ver 1.0 P4 800Mhz FSB
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 2.8GHz [800MHz] 512K cache (Socket 478)
Fan: ThermalTake Silent Viking Fan for P3 up to 3Ghz
Case: Antec Sonata/ Minitower, 380W, 4x5.25 ", 2x3.5", ATX, Black
RAM: 756Mb DDR Ram (running as single DR) (3 x 256MB PC3200 ? CL=3 ? Non-parity ? DDR400MHz ? 2.6V ? 32Meg x 64, 184-pin DIMM [Crucial CT3264Z40B]
Graphics Card: Gainward GeForce FX 5600 256MB DDR 5ns,AGP, "Ultra/780TV-DVI",Tv-Out
Hard Drive: 80GB, 7200rpm, 8MB Cache, Maxtor)
Expansion Card: Maxtor Ultra ATA 133 PCI Card
=> Maxtor IDE ATA-133 200GB 7200RPM 8MB - DiamondMax Plus 9, 8 MB cache
DVD Writer: NEC3500 DVD+-R/RW Internal (DVD-R/-RW, DVD+RW/+R and CD-R/CD-RW)
DVD Drive (Reader only) : Toshiba DVD-ROM SD-M1202
Soundcard: Creative Audigy 2
Speakers: Creative Inspire 6.1 6700, speakers
Misc.
Trust, 5 button, cordless, optical, rechargeable Mouse
HP extended Keyboard
Broadband
17" Dell Monitor
15" Compaq Monitor
Philips 24 inch TV on TV out
Win 2K (Service Pack 4) + rollup
Looks like I built it in 2004, seems so recent...
changed my style to silver
changed my clothes to black
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Member
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20. April 2006 @ 12:56 |
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Well I'd say do both at the same time. If I had that system, I'd keep my optical drives, HDD's, and posibly my GPU depending on if I ever played games on it.
I'd upgrade my MOBO and CPU to an Athlon 64(x2 depending on budget), and RAM. now 3 256MB isn't going to get you very far.. If you went with 2 512's running dual channel, that'd help you out alot. (or 2 1G sticks, again depending on budget).
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Member
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20. April 2006 @ 13:45 |
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I use the system for
Making home movie DVD's
Games (thinking about Elder scrolls IV: Oblivion at moment)
Surfing/ downloading
etc... (use it for lots, Photo editing etc...)
I see the point about the RAM (I'm using the 768Mb as Single DR as the 1Gb (4 x 256) won't work as DDR). I've already searched out some Kingston ValueRAM 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200), which I could get cheapish.
But processor wise: is there anything I could get that would dramatically improve things? I saw a prices and they looked quite expensive??
I should also mention I replaced the 380W Power supply with an Antec NeoHE 430 GB 430W ATX Power Supply (the other one died on me).
changed my style to silver
changed my clothes to black
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Member
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20. April 2006 @ 13:58 |
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If you stay in the intel market, there's nothing really you could get that would dramatically improve things. But if you went AMD, you could easily.
But on the ES4 note. Your computer isn't out of date yet really. A simple graphics card boost, plus that kingston RAM and you'd probably be ready to go.
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Member
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20. April 2006 @ 14:06 |
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thanks for the quick update.
any possibility you could suggest what AMD will fit my mobo?
just so I can see where I'm going on this, the onbes I checked earlier seemed slow in comparison
for the Graphics I was thinking Nvidia GeForce 6600, am I right in thinking this is still reasonable or should I be looking at something better?
it's only just over two years that I built the system I have, but it's not as simple as it seemed back then....
changed my style to silver
changed my clothes to black
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ddp
Moderator
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20. April 2006 @ 14:12 |
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an amd cpu won't fit into an intel socket & vice versa. you need a new board that takes an amd cpu. i'd leave the system alone except for upgrading the ram. saying goes if not broken why fix
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Member
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20. April 2006 @ 23:14 |
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True, but he won't be able to play ES4 with his current video card.
I've been playing World of Warcraft(bought today), and I am amazed at how beautiful and seemless the resolution is.
God bless the x850xt.
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vspede
Junior Member
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20. April 2006 @ 23:58 |
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I'd totally reccomend getting a new rebuild but use some old parts if money is an Issue.
Definitely get a newer board. Something that can be upgradeable. Therefore in the future you wont have to. Get a board that has an upgraded socket i.e. 939 and a good FSB. For example, mine is an Asus A8n-SLI with a socket 939 and an FSB rated to 2000 (really 1000). More on that later. ALso make sure you take advantage of the tech thats out. Get the Motherboard with GIGABYTE LAN, PCI-Express x16, etc. Those essentials are rapidly becoming the standard. No more AGP, no more crappy 10/100 Lan sockets.
CPU is your choice but I'd reccomend AMD. I used to ahve a pentium but now my AMD is something I love. Very low heat and oh so easy to OC. Especially with my board. If you don't know about OC ask around in the forum, I did and I'm still new at it but I think I'm getting better. CPU definitely AMD and Dual Core. You won't regret Dual Core. check techbargains.com. Back than a Dual core 4000+ or 3800+ was going for 260 bucks. WHich kinda pissed me off b/c my single core 3700+ I bought was 225 bucks. I wish to this day I bought Dual Core.
ALso most important upgrade your CPU fan. Sure its like 30 mor ebucks but its worth it and you don't ahve to worry about cooling.
ALso I'd reccomend get a new video card. If you check on other sites, ask me if you want em, they rate the geforce FX series to be horrible in terms of things like graphics and gaming. Your choice for a Geforce of ATI. I heard the Geforce 7900 (or was it 7800?) was a good bet. Don't get the 6600, I have it and its good but its not as good as I'd like it.
With case, thats up to you. If your case only has 1 or 2 fans I'd reccomend getting something better. Cooling is your friend and if you hunt (pricewatch.com) you can find a good cheap one. Me personally I get paranoid so I bought a cheap case on sale at geekboys.com that comes with 3 fans (front, side, back) and its all clear so I can make sure when I look at the case all the fans and crap are working. It cost me 28 bucks. The fans all have light ups to and came included, but thats like a vanity bonus. I just needed a clear one so I can make sure my craps working right.
Things like RAM, Hard Drive, you can just transfer over. Idealy its not the "best" but hey it works and its decent. Especially since if you get a CPU 939 socket AMD, it'll run dual channel so essentially it doubles your RAM. Space really shouldn't be an issue since you have a DVD burner and you can burn whatever the hell you want. But again if you want to upgrade you can. Hard drive and RAM are hella cheap these days. Just look for specials.
Oh and get a good rated Power Supply. Thats crucial. Especially if your goign to OverClock.
Those are my two cents.
OH yea, The more on this later part i wrote up there. Damn this is a long post. I currently spent about 500 bucks give or take on my current CPU. I bought everything but hard drive and RAM. Heres my specs.
Asus A8N-SLI Motherboard
Athlon AMD 64 3700+ San Diego CPU
Geforce 6600GT
Corsair Valueselect RAM pc3200 1 GIG (2 chips, and yea its cheap ram)
I/O Magic DVD Burner
Zalman CPU Fan w/LED Light
With the help of these great people here, I OverClocked my CPU. Originally it was 2.2 GHZ I believe but now its at 2.7 GHZ and my FSB is at 1080. My cooling is fine since I got that Zalman Fan and at full capacity I heat only up to 47C. SOme guy here said my CPU is running as fast as an FX-55 CPU which is like an $850 CPU so I find that flattering. So keep taht in mind. Hope that helps.
Friends will help you move.
Real Friends will help you move the bodies...
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Member
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21. April 2006 @ 00:20 |
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thanks again.
I'll start looking into a better Graphics card immediately and will see about ordering the 2Gb of Ram.
I'll also see about a possible processor upgrade, but I think they will be too expensive compared to any increases in processing power.
M
changed my style to silver
changed my clothes to black
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Senior Member
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21. April 2006 @ 00:33 |
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elder scrolls IV oblivion
my youngest son has a 3ghz p4, msi 875 m/b, fx5900xt graphics and 1gig ram 2x512 running dual
it runs the game like a sick horse
but it does run it , lots of tweaks lol, it needs a GOOD graphics card it runs on full specs on mine so if i'm out he plays on here
your system doesn't really need an upgrade it should be able to tackle anything you throw at it you just need the very best graphics card you can afford
XFX GeForce 7800GS XT Gamers Edition AGP 256MB 256MB DDR3 DVI+TV+VGA
one of those would be just the job £234 incl vat
After thought: back in the 90's overclocking was the in thing cos processors were so slow but NOW? why bother to over clock and shorten the life of your components? the modern machine can cope with anything you can throw at it
heat probs? i use the bog standard heatsink and fan that came with the processor i get no heat probs
i7 3770 12GB ram terrabyte sata drive 1 750Gb sata drive 285GTX graphics Sony dvdwriter same NZXT Nemesis case
Still playing Black Hawk Down why did I upgrade?
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 21. April 2006 @ 00:51
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vspede
Junior Member
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21. April 2006 @ 00:43 |
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For processor You have to see it in terms of AMD numbers not Pentium.
Your CPU is a 2.8 which is good. But in terms of AMD, like my processor right now, AMD 64 3700+ San Diego. It runs slower, stock value is 2.2 Ghz. That seems low to your 2.8 but AMD CPU's send more instructions per cycle than pentiums. Theoretically, my AMD 64 3700+ is equal to a Pentium 3.7 Ghz. etc. Heck its a marketting thing. My Overclocking it up to a 2.7 makes it very good, how good I don't know. But my FSB is more as well, 1000.
ALso keep in mind my CPU is a 64 bit, yours is 32. Hence the data transmited is 64 bytes wheres yours is 32 bytes. twice as more than yours.
And when Windows Vistas comes out (prob next year) 64 bit windows is easy and all drivers will be easily downloaded. Hence you got a powerful cpu and a powerful OS with it.
To prove my point. I have a crappy video card, but an overall good computer. I'm not ashamed to say I d/led a full copy of Elder Scroll Oblivion (all 5 gigs) installed it, and ran it. I ran through it fine. No glitches, settings here all high except 2 were medium. I fought mosnters, rode my horse across the land, and went through the fiery ring thingy. No stalls, no stutters, no super long load times. And at that time I didn't Overclock my CPU and it was at 2.4 Ghz with a FSB of 440.
I deleted it cause I actually found it to be boring. I'm more of a Counter-strike guy.
Hope taht helps.
Friends will help you move.
Real Friends will help you move the bodies...
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Member
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21. April 2006 @ 08:10 |
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thanks for all the good posts.
I'm not going to bother changing the processor, as $200 for a 3Ghz P4 just doesn't look worth it, especially as I have a P4 2.8Ghz as it is.
I am however on the lookout for a decent Nvidia 7800, hopefully I'll get a deal from some retailer like the last time, must check ebay...
and as soon as the bro gets back to the US I'll organise the new 2Gb Ram.
I should point out that my system runs at 35degC standard and when gaming will rise another 10Deg Max
m
changed my style to silver
changed my clothes to black
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ddp
Moderator
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21. April 2006 @ 11:28 |
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your temp is alright
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